"a Friday–Saturday weekend: on 1 September 2006 in Bahrain and the UAE, and a year later in Kuwait. In Iran, Friday and Thursday are weekend days. The name ""Friday"" comes from the Old English ', meaning the ""day of Frige"", a result of an old convention associating the Germanic goddess Frigg with the Roman goddess Venus, with whom the day is associated in many different cultures. The same holds for ' in Old High German, ' in Modern German, and ' in Dutch. The expected cognate name in Old Norse would be *'. However, the name of Friday in Old"
"one covering the semantic field of ""love, courtship, friendship"" (English ""friend""), the other the field of ""freedom"" (English ""free""). The weekday Friday in English is named after for the goddess Frigg (Old English ""frigedæg""). Friday in Old Norse was called both ""Freyjudagr"" and ""Frjádagr"", in Faröese ""fríggjadagur"", and in Old High German never *""Frouwûntac"", but ""Frîatac, Frîgetac"", now ""Freitag"". There is some evidence that the epithet *""frawjō"" ""lady"" was applied to this goddess. The two names were confused from early times, especially in Old English, where the stem of ""*frīj-"" appears as ""frēo-, frīo-, frēa-"" (a contraction of ""*īj-"" and"
"Frigg In Germanic mythology, Frigg (; Old Norse), Frija (Old High German), Frea (Langobardic), and Frige (Old English) is a goddess. In nearly all sources, she is described as the wife of the god Odin. In Old High German and Old Norse sources, she is also connected with the goddess Fulla. The English weekday name Friday (etymologically Old English ""Frīge's day"") bears her name. Frigg is described as a goddess associated with foresight and wisdom in Norse mythology, the northernmost branch of Germanic mythology and most extensively attested. Frigg is the wife of the major god Odin and dwells in"
"sources. Regarding a Freyja–Frigg common origin hypothesis, scholar Stephan Grundy comments that ""the problem of whether Frigg or Freyja may have been a single goddess originally is a difficult one, made more so by the scantiness of pre-Viking Age references to Germanic goddesses, and the diverse quality of the sources. The best that can be done is to survey the arguments for and against their identity, and to see how well each can be supported."" The English weekday name ""Friday"" comes from Old English ""Frīġedæġ"", meaning 'day of Frige'. It is cognate with Old High German ""frîatac"". Several place names"
"Feronia (mythology) In ancient Roman religion, Feronia was a goddess associated with wildlife, fertility, health, and abundance. As the goddess who granted freedom to slaves or civil rights to the most humble part of society, she was especially honored among plebeians and freedmen. Her festival, the ""Feroniae"", was November 13 (the ""ides"" of November) during the ""Ludi Plebeii"" (""Plebeian Games""), in conjunction with Fortuna Primigenia; both were goddesses of Praeneste. Feronia's name is derived from a Sabine adjective corresponding to Latin ""fĕrus"". ""Feronia"" comes from Etruscan, but with a long vowel, i.e. ""Fērōnǐa"". The root ""fer"" has cognate words in"
"Norse is ' instead, indicating a loan of the week-day names from Low German. The modern Scandinavian form is ' in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish, meaning Freyja's day. The distinction between Freyja and Frigg in some Germanic mythologies is contested. The word for Friday in most Romance languages is derived from Latin ' or ""day of Venus"" (a translation of Greek ', ), such as ' in French, ' in Catalan, ' in Corsican, ' in Italian, ' in Romanian, and ' in Spanish and influencing the Filipino ' or ', and the Chamorro '. This is also reflected in"
"have stayed at her house in Rome. She is martyred in Rome ""with many others"", according to the Acta Sanctorum. Her feast day is 17 February. Saint Albina The name Albina comes from Albina, ""the White Goddess,"" the Etruscan goddess of the dawn and protector of ill-fated lovers. It was a common name in ancient Rome. According to Nennius, Britain gains its earliest name, Albion from Albina, the White Goddess, the eldest of the fifty Danaids, possibly originating from the German words ""elf-woman"". There appear to be several different women named Albina remembered as saints in the Roman Catholic Church."
"a Christianization of a pre-Christian Albanian figure, arguing in particular that the original name of the figure in ancient times was ""Gentius"" before it was mutated over time. If so, Gjin could be not the only Albanian Christian saint with a non-Christian origin, as another saint is also thought to be of pre-Christian origin: Shën Premti which shares the origin of ""Premte"", the Albanian word for Friday, and is thought to share the origin of the ancient goddess Prende, the Albanian equivalent of Roman Venus, Norse Freyja and Greek Aphrodite but was identified by the Catholic Church with the martyr"
"early account of the Germanic peoples, Ēostre attested among the pagan Anglo-Saxons, and Sinthgunt attested among the pagan continental Germanic peoples. Examples of goddesses attested in Norse mythology include Frigg (wife of Odin, and the Anglo-Saxon version of whom is namesake of the modern English weekday Friday), Skaði (one time wife of Njörðr), Njerda (Scandinavian name of Nerthus), that also was married to Njörðr during Bronze Age, Freyja (wife of Óðr), Sif (wife of Thor), Gerðr (wife of Freyr), and personifications such as Jörð (earth), Sól (the sun), and Nótt (night). Female deities also play heavily into the Norse concept"
"English days of the week were inherited from gods of the old Germanic Norse culture — Wednesday is ""Wōden""’s-day (""Wōden"" or ""Wettin"" eqv. Mercury), Thursday is ""Thor""’s-day (Thor eqv. Jupiter), Friday is ""Frige""-day (Frig eqv. Venus). It can be correlated that the Norse gods were attributed to each Roman planet and its god, probably due to Roman influence rather than coincidentally by the naming of the planets. In alchemy, each classical planet (Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) was associated with one of the seven metals known to the classical world (silver, mercury/quicksilver, copper, gold, iron, tin and"
"Anio Vetus, a major new aqueduct, and a number of fountains near the temple. Charles Godfrey Leland found surviving traditions concerning the ""witch"" Feronia in 19th century Tuscany. The asteroid 72 Feronia is named for her. Feronia (mythology) In ancient Roman religion, Feronia was a goddess associated with wildlife, fertility, health, and abundance. As the goddess who granted freedom to slaves or civil rights to the most humble part of society, she was especially honored among plebeians and freedmen. Her festival, the ""Feroniae"", was November 13 (the ""ides"" of November) during the ""Ludi Plebeii"" (""Plebeian Games""), in conjunction with Fortuna"
"many cultures, in Albania, Friday is the day sacred to the goddess of love as well. The name is used today in the Albanian language for Friday (""e premte""). Prende Prende is the goddess of love and beauty in the Albanian mythology. She is the wife of Perendi, and referred to in Albanian legends as ""Zonja e Bukurisë"" (""Lady of Beauty""), while her sacred day was Friday. Prende is analogous to the Roman goddess, Venus, but there may be a potential connection with the Norse goddess, Freyja too, who is also a goddess of love and beauty. In """"A Dictionary"
"can be made with some folk tales characters. Paraskeva’s cult and attributes became confused with that of other saints with the same name as well as pre-Christian deities of the Slavs. This confusion was made because the Greek name of St Parascheva was “paraskevi”, meaning “Friday”. The translation in languages as Romanian or Serbian was “Sfânta Vineri” or “Sveti Petka” meaning Saint Friday. The translation from Greek language to Romanian, Serbian or Bulgarian language was sometimes misunderstood by some scholars who connected the translated name of Saint Parascheva, Saint Friday, with a certain character from folk tales having a similar"
"of Imbolc, which was celebrated in pre-Christian Europe (and especially the Celtic Nations) at about the same time of year. Imbolc is called ""St. Brigid's Day"" or ""Brigid"" in Ireland. Both the goddess Brigid and the Christian Saint Brigid—who was the Abbess of Kildare—are associated with sacred flames, holy wells and springs, healing, and smithcraft. Brigid is a virgin, yet also the patron of midwives. However, a connection with Roman (rather than Celtic or Germanic) polytheism is more plausible, since the feast was celebrated before any serious attempt to expand Christianity into non-Roman countries. In Irish homes, there were many"
"""xoves"" and Romanian ""joi"". This is also reflected in the p-Celtic Welsh ""dydd Iau"". The astrological and astronomical sign of the planet Jupiter (♃) is sometimes used to represent Thursday. Since the Roman god Jupiter was identified with Thunor (Norse Thor in northern Europe), most Germanic languages name the day after this god: ""Torsdag"" in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish, ""Hósdagur""/""Tórsdagur"" in Faroese, ""Donnerstag"" in German or ""Donderdag"" in Dutch. Finnish and Northern Sami, both non-Germanic (Uralic) languages, uses the borrowing ""Torstai"" and ""Duorastat"". In the extinct Polabian Slavic language, it was ""perundan"", Perun being the Slavic equivalent of Thor. There"
"to a mad bull, which tore her apart. Tryphaena finally died. Tryphaena is one of the many saints who come from Cyzicus and she is the patron saint of the city. She is a Saint in the Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church. Her feast day in the Orthodox Church is 31 January, while in the Roman Catholic Church her feast day is 31 January. Tryphaena of Cyzicus Tryphaena (name in Greek: η Τρύφαινα or Τρυφαίνη, flourished 1st century) was a Roman Christian woman that lived in the Roman Empire. She was the daughter of Roman nobles Anastasius and Socratia."
"an inscription mentioning a virgin martyr named ""Sophia"" at the high altar of the church of San Martino ai Monti. Saxer (2000) suggests that her veneration may indeed have originated in the later 6th century based on such inscriptions of the 4th to 6th centuries. Based on her feast day on 15 May, she became one of the ""Ice Saints"", the saints whose feast days are traditionally associated with the last possibility of frost in Central Europe. She is known as ""kalte Sophie"" ""cold Sophia"" in Germany, and in Slovenia as ""poscana Zofka"" ""pissing Sophia"" or ""mokra Zofija"" ""wet Sophia""."
"Flora (mythology) In Roman mythology, Flora () is a Sabine-derived goddess of flowers and of the season of spring – a symbol for nature and flowers (especially the may-flower). While she was otherwise a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology, being one among several fertility goddesses, her association with the spring gave her particular importance at the coming of springtime, as did her role as goddess of youth. Her Greek counterpart is Chloris. Her name is derived from the Latin word ""flos"" which means ""flower"". In modern English, ""Flora"" also means the plants of a particular region or period. Her"
"the ""Floralia"", festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, held on 27 April during the Roman Republic era, and with the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries. It is also associated with the Gaelic Beltane, most commonly held on 30 April. The day is a traditional summer holiday in many European pagan cultures. While 1 February is the first day of spring, 1 May is the first day of summer; hence, the summer solstice on 25 June (now 21 June) is Midsummer. As Europe became Christianised, the pagan holidays lost their religious character and May Day changed into"
"Frijjō The theonyms in West Germanic are Anglo-Saxon *Frīg, Old High German Frīja, Low German (Lower Saxony) Frike, Freke (""Fru Freen, Fru Frien, Fru Freke, Fru Frick, Fuik, Frie"") and Lombardic Frea. The name of the Anglo-Saxon goddess is attested only in the name of the weekday, although ""frīg"" (strong feminine) as a common noun meaning ""love"" (in the singular) or ""affections, embraces"" (in the plural) is attested in poetry. The name ""* Frijjō"" (Old Norse ""Frigg"", Old High German ""Frīja"") ultimately derives from PIE ""*prih-y(a)h"", cognate to Sanskrit ""priya"" ""dear, beloved"", which however in Germanic split into two etymons,"
"Literary sources record relationships with Fortuna and Spes. She started to be increasingly associated to Valetudo, the Goddess of Personal Health, which was the real romanized name of Hygieia. Later she became more a protector of personal health. Around 180 BCE sacrificial rites in honour of Apollo, Aesculapius, and Salus took place there (Livius XL, 37). There was a statue to Salus in the temple of Concordia. She is first known to be associated with the snake of Aesculapius from a coin of 55 BC minted by M. Acilius. Her festival was celebrated on March 30. The two deities were"
"a ""Black Friday"". However, this superstition is not universal, notably in Scottish Gaelic culture: In astrology, Friday is connected with the planet Venus and is symbolized by that planet's symbol ♀. Friday is also associated with the astrological signs Libra and Taurus. In Christianity, Good Friday is the Friday before Easter. It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. Traditionally, Roman Catholics were obliged to refrain from eating the meat of warm-blooded animals on Fridays, although fish was allowed. The Filet-O-Fish was invented in 1962 by Lou Groen, a McDonald's franchise owner in Cincinnati, Ohio, in response to falling hamburger sales on"
"the same entity. Februus In ancient Roman religion, Februus, whose name means ""purifier"", was the god of purification. He was also worshipped under the same name by the Etruscans as the god of purification, and also the underworld. For the Etruscans, Februus was also the god of riches (money/gold) and death, both connected to the underworld in the same natural manner as with the better-known Roman god Pluto. Februus may have become the Roman Febris, goddess of fever (""febris"" in Latin means fever) and malaria. These are possibly connected with the sweating of fevers, which was considered a purgative, washing,"
"word are not derived from the Cornish word ""frig"", meaning ""wife"", or from the Germanic deity Frigg, the wife of Odin[{conjecture}]. The deity Frigg has sometimes been referred to in recent times as ""Friga"" or ""Frigga"" in order to distance her from the English word ""frig"". The word's use as a synonym for ""masturbate""[extracted from frig-same route meaning] dates to 1598 in the United Kingdom, while its use as a euphemism for ""fuck"" dates to 1879 in the United Kingdom. In 1892, the word was subtly included in Joseph Wright's glossary of the dialect of the Yorkshire village of Windhill,"
"Befana In Italian folklore, Befana () is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in a similar way to St Nicholas or Santa Claus. A popular belief is that her name derives from the Feast of Epiphany or in Catholic ""La Festa dell'Epifania"". ""Epifania"" is a Latin word with Greek origins meaning ""manifestation (of the divinity)."" Some suggest that Befana is descended from the Sabine/Roman goddess named Strenia. In popular folklore Befana visits all the children of Italy on the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany to fill"
"well each can be supported."" Unlike Frigg but like the name of the group of gods to which Freyja belongs, the Vanir, the name ""Freyja"" is not attested outside of Scandinavia, as opposed to the name of the goddess ""Frigg"", who is attested as a goddess common among the Germanic peoples, and whose name is reconstructed as Proto-Germanic *""Frijjō"". Similar proof for the existence of a common Germanic goddess from which ""Freyja"" descends does not exist, but scholars have commented that this may simply be due to the scarcity of evidence outside of the North Germanic record. Frigg and Freyja"
"Februus is possibly named in honor of the more ancient Februa (also Februalia and Februatio), the spring festival of washing and purification. Februus' holy month was ""Februarius"" (of Februa), hence English February, a month named for the Februa/februalia spring purification festival which occurred on the 15th of that month. These spring purification activities occurred at about the same time as Lupercalia, a Roman festival in honor of Faun and also the wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus, during which expiatory sacrifices and ritual purifications were also performed. Because of this coincidence, the two gods (Faun and Februus) were often considered"
"Furrinalia In ancient Roman religion, the Furrinalia (or Furinalia) was an annual festival held on 25 July to celebrate the rites ""(sacra)"" of the goddess Furrina. Varro notes that the festival was a public holiday ""(feriae publicae dies)"". Both the festival and the goddess had become obscure even to the Romans of the Late Republic; Varro (mid-1st century BC) notes that few people in his day even know her name. One of the fifteen ""flamines"" (high priests of official cult) was assigned to her, indicating her archaic stature, and she had a sacred grove ""(lucus)"" on the Janiculum, which may"
"Februus In ancient Roman religion, Februus, whose name means ""purifier"", was the god of purification. He was also worshipped under the same name by the Etruscans as the god of purification, and also the underworld. For the Etruscans, Februus was also the god of riches (money/gold) and death, both connected to the underworld in the same natural manner as with the better-known Roman god Pluto. Februus may have become the Roman Febris, goddess of fever (""febris"" in Latin means fever) and malaria. These are possibly connected with the sweating of fevers, which was considered a purgative, washing, and purification process."
"from Maia, a Greco-Roman earth and fertility goddess who is identified elsewhere with Fauna and who exerted a wide influence on medieval wild-man lore. Slavic has ""leshy"" ""forest man"". Various languages and traditions include names suggesting affinities with Orcus, a Roman and Italic god of death. For many years people in Tyrol called the wild man ""Orke"", ""Lorke"", or ""Noerglein"", while in parts of Italy he was the ""orco"" or ""huorco"". The French ogre has the same derivation, as do modern literary orcs. Importantly, Orcus is associated with Maia in a dance celebrated late enough to be condemned in a"
"such as Hestia. Both the goddess and saint are associated with holy wells, at Kildare and many other sites in the Celtic lands. Well dressing, the tying of clooties to the trees next to healing wells, and other methods of petitioning or honoring Brigid still take place in some of the Celtic lands and the diaspora. Saint Brigid's feast day is on 1 February celebrated as St Brigid's Day in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and by the Anglican Communion. The Gaelic festival coincides with Imbolc, which is a pagan festival associated with the goddess Brigid. Brigid"
"Marina, she is associated with the sea, which ""may in turn point to an older goddess tradition"", reflecting the pagan divinity, Aphrodite. The Eastern Orthodox Church knows Margaret as Saint Marina, and celebrates her feast day on July 20th. She has been identified with Saint Pelagia, ""Marina"" being the Latin equivalent of the Greek ""Pelagia"" who—according to her hagiography by James, the deacon of Heliopolis—had been known as ""Margarita"" (""Pearl""). We possess no historical documents on Saint Margaret as distinct from Saint Pelagia. The Greek Marina came from Antioch in Pisidia (as opposed to Antioch of Syria), but this distinction"
"Furrina Furrina, also spelled Furina, was an ancient Roman goddess whose function had become obscure by the 1st century BC. Her cult dated to the earliest period of Roman religious history, since she was one of the fifteen deities who had their own flamen, the ""Furrinalis"", one of the ""flamines minores"". There is some evidence that Furrina was associated with water. According to Varro and Georges Dumézil Furrina was a goddess of springs. Her name would be related to the Indoeuropean root *bhr-u-n, Sanskrite"" bhurvan"", indicating the moving or bubbling of water, cognate to Gothic ""brunna"" (""spring""), Latin ""fervēre"", from"